Working With Spirit

Tuesday, October 24, 2006 7PM
Saybrook Graduate School, San Francisco
Working With Spirit co-sponsored with Social Venture Network.

Some Questions We'll Consider...

How does one stay in touch with one's spirituality while engaged in day-to-day work activities? Every working day presents challenges to our composure, ethics and compassion. What practices, methods or insights help keep us grounded in our higher selves, oriented to our center, and bringing forth expressions of the divine in all our dealings?

We invite you to sit in the circle bringing your curiosity to honestly inquire, your courage to be open to new ideas and your passion to engage this inquiry with "humble chutzpah". Whether you speak, or remain silent, this dialogue promises something for everyone who works in the world and wishes to grow spiritually.

Conversation Starters

Chip Conley, founder, Joie de Vivre Hospitality,largest boutique hotel operator in California, includes 28 hotels, 8 restaurants and bars, and 3 day spas; author, Marketing That Matters (forthcoming)

Margot Fraser, founder and former owner of Birkenstock Footprint Sandals, Inc., the original importer of Birkenstock footwear in the United States

Yosi Amram, founder and CEO of two companies, now an executive coach, currently working on his PhD in clinical psychology focusing on spiritual intelligence

Schedule	Registration 7:00 PM; Meeting Begins 7:15-9:30 PM
Location	Saybrook Graduate School and Research Center 747 Front St. (@ Broadway) 3rd Floor, San Francisco (see map)
Admission	$20 in advance by registering online; $25 in advance (by email, phone or check); $30 at the door. To register online, go to Registration.

Check our website at www.ThePresidioDialogues.org for more information, directions and to pre-register online for only $20.

And feel free to forward this invitation to anyone you know who may be interested.

The Presidio Dialogues, Saybrook Graduate School and Research Center

747 Front Street, Third Floor, San Francisco, CA 94111-1920
http://tpd.c.topica.com/maafdJYabtK5IbR0fode/

"You get positive rippling effects from this!"

from Hay House:

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World Wellness Weekend -- November 3-5

THE MASTER TEACHER OF A COURSE IN MIRACLES

World Wellness Weekend � San Jose, California November 3 � 4 � 5 2006 Come and experience with The Master Teacher, in this extremely rare appearance, an inevitable decision of discovering our journey without distance in the space of an instant of Reality� Our transitional passage from time to eternity� The Light Has Come.

For more information: www.worldwellness.org

The Dream of Separation

The Dream of Separation

All there is is No-thing Being Everything and what appears as part
of that everything is the belief and experience of being a separate
self — an apparent individual with its own free will, choice and
ability to act. This happening is uniquely human and is called self-
consciousness. To most people it is the reality.

That apparent feeling of being separate is at the root of the
suffering, inadequacy and sense of loss that drives people to search
for escape or resolution. It is Being dreaming that it is apart from
itself, looking all over the place for that which is already
Everything. It is the hypnotic dream of separation which, for the
dreamer, is very real.

The dilemma for the dream seeker is that the feeling of separation
drives the seeking for resolution, which further fuels the sense of
separation.

The development of an intelligent understanding 'mind' apparently
brings with it the ability to make choices and take actions in an
attempt to negotiate with 'the world' lived in. These negotiations
are not always successful and the individual seems to experience its
own pain and pleasure. It also develops a great respect for the
guidance and control apparently emanating from the
understanding 'mind'. However, as long as there is a sense of
separation, there is a sense of disquiet or loss and there is a
seeking to dispel that sense. It seems logical that the much
respected understanding 'mind' must be capable of investigating the
cause of this disquiet and discovering ways of dispelling it.
The separate entity can only try to imagine or project an idea of
what it must be like not to be separate. What is sought is the
possibility of a future goal or state that can be realised and
therefore, logically, must be approachable. Consequently, the
function of seeking and the teaching of becoming locks the seeker
into a state of continuously approaching something that it cannot
comprehend. All of this is the _expression of Being, arising as the
good, old, dependable and reliable understanding `mind' functioning
as it can only function . . . in continual movement and
anticipation. It is this activity of becoming which very effectively
keeps the seeker in the hypnotic dream of reaching out for something
it cannot grasp. Of course, Liberation can apparently happen despite
all of this effort.

The only other hope for the dream seeker is to believe that another
benevolent energy (say God, Consciousness or a so-called enlightened
teacher) would be motivated to guide and influence the seeker along
a path which would eventually lead them to fulfilment. All of these
ideas of becoming, purpose and destiny arise in the dream.
But the paradox is that although Being appears as the dream seeker,
Being is not a state that can be imagined, conceived of, attained or
even realised by the seeking of it. Being requires absolutely
nothing … it is the Nothing and Everything that is already
immaculate fulfilment and wholeness. Nothing needs to be changed or
attained, lost or found, for Being to simply Be. The appearance of
separation is simply the _expression of Being. The very idea of
something needing to approach that which it already is, is
wonderfully futile. Being is a comedian with an audience which never
laughs.

The dream seeker feels a sense of loss and unworthiness, and so is
very attracted to dream teachings which involve purification, hard
committed effort, surrender, devotion and the development of
renunciation and detachment. There is a kind of logical
inevitability and worthiness about these ideas which resonates with
the sense of lack. The almost endless path of striving happily
ensures the continuation of the individual experience. These ideas
seem to arise out of a very substantial and reliable history of
traditional wisdom which surely must be respected, even though it is
only available as words on bits of paper.

Two traditional ways which seek resolution, or escape, from the
sense of separation are meditation and self-enquiry.
In meditation it seems possible, through apparent choice and
guidance, to reach certain states of stillness or bliss which seem
better than feeling separate. The belief is that continuous effort
with meditation will solidify the state and eventually make it
permanent. But these states are only refined personal experiences
happening within the dream-story. So like all other time-based
activities they come and go away.

Self-enquiry is a similar process in that the goal is for the
individual to choose to take action or make the effort to reach a
place called awareness which, its teachers promise, will bring
personal peace of mind, happiness and the end of all suffering (?).
There is a great emphasis on the need for properly carried out
investigation of thought processes etc, and the necessity for
vigilance from "being distracted by self-centred thoughts".
All of this activity is based on the principle of the
enquirer "getting oneness" and maintaining personal possession of it.
The effect of the state of awareness is apparent movement into a
place of detachment which at first feels very freeing, powerful and
safe . . . rather like being in a glass box from which life can be
watched without the watcher being affected. It is still a subtly
dual personal experience within the dream-story of separation and so
it is transitory.

Awareness of life happening is not 'Being life'.
Predictably the state of awareness (Buddhist mindfulness) is easily
forgotten or mislaid, or it can be overwhelmed by dream thinking or
any powerful emotional situation, for instance. The glass box
shatters and the place you seemed to be in seems lost again. The
dream seeker either starts self-enquiring again, for another boost,
or it is realised that awareness is just another refuge from within
the dream of separation. All of this is simply the _expression of
Being.

Another way for the dream seeker to avoid simply Being is to try to
understand or develop clarity about its own nature. It is very easy
to get stuck in `Advaita' or `non-dual' concepts. The singular and
unrelenting reiteration of such ideas as "all there is is
Being", "everything is the _expression of Being" or "there is no one"
are an arid and simplistic form of communication. It doesn't address
or illuminate the dream seeker's apparent dilemma and it obviously
ignores the primary energetic essence of the implicit aliveness of
simply Being.

To continuously say that being awake or being asleep is not relevant
because "Being is all there is" is like telling a blind person that
it's OK to be blind because "seeing is all there is". This is pure
idealism. Of course, there is no such thing as being asleep or being
awake, but this is not seen until there is no one looking.

The Open Secret communication is not dependent on clear concepts,
however much they may expose confused concepts. Speaking happens and
words can only point to another possibility which is beyond verbal
_expression. It is the eternally new message which is hidden within
the scriptures and either overlooked or rejected in the `mind'.
The idea of prescriptive teaching, guidance or the offer of any kind
of help simply does not arise. This is a message without hope or
comfort of any kind for the individual, but invariably the dream
seeker will still believe that something is on offer … this is the
function of seeking. It is also possible that all that will be left
is nothing, and then another possibility could arise. However, there
is no agenda or motive because nothing is for sale.

It is possible that clarity could arise, but absolute understanding
is not liberation. Nevertheless, all of this conceptual
communication is secondary to the primary element that is most
illuminating. That primary element is energetic, impersonal
aliveness … the implicit, vibrant wonder of simply Being. It is an
energetic shift, apparently out of contraction into boundlessness.
This boundlessness cannot be owned and so cannot be given. Its
simplicity utterly confounds the `mind', but what arises is an
impersonal recognition that there is no-one and nothing to be
liberated. All ideas of separation, individual suffering, free will,
choice, meaning and purpose, destiny, hierarchy and tradition, are
simply seen by no-one as the dream-play of Being.

It seems that the seeking `mind' is fascinated by struggle and
complexity. The whole fabric of seeking is full of stories of great
edifices, seemingly arising out of simple beginnings. Buddhism,
Christianity and so many other dogmas, arise and grow and fight each
other over having better gods. Catechisms of sin and worthiness,
degrees of awareness and levels of enlightenment are investigated,
dissected and struggled over.

The mind loves the idea of enlightenment being some kind of distant,
virtually unobtainable, perfect place of permanent bliss, free from
suffering and full of omniscience, omnipresence and lots of other
important `omni's' stomping around, shouting the odds and saving the
world. And of course, because all this glory and specialness has to
be attained, it seems there has to be a long haul through the dark
night of the soul, endless past karmas, original sin, right-
thinking, right action and preparation for the bardos. "It is a tale
told by a fool, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."
Yet Natural Being is such an ordinary and gentle constant. When it
is seen it is. When it is avoided it is. It requires no effort and
demands no standards. Being timeless there is no path to tread, no
debt to pay. It is already totally known. When this is heard and
confusion collapses, when the contraction of struggling to get
something falls away and the vibrant energy of being aliveness
becomes apparent, something else is seen, very naturally of course,
because it is already all that is.

Tony Parsons
1st July 2006

__._,_.___

Gnostic Lectures by Stephan Hoeller

BC Recordings, The Gnostic Society's Web Lectures and The Gnosis Archive are pleased to provide here a selection of free "Web Lectures" by Stephan A. Hoeller.
These selected Free Lectures change, so check back (or subscribe to our infrequent Newsletter) to download the new offerings. Even our free and easy-to-create membership account is not required to access these audio files -- just click and listen or download!

In addition to these selections, you will find additional lectures in our large catalog marked as FREE. To find these, browse through the catalog and look for the FREE label. Add the lecture to your shopping cart and checkout. There will be no charge at checkout.

Our current Introductory Lectures by Stephan A. Hoeller . . .

The lectures here are offered in two formats: As a "streaming" MP3 file which will begin playing immediately when you "click", or just like our downloadable product in the BC Recordings catalog, as an MP3 file contained in a "zip" archive which you download and save to your computer for later listening.

Gnosticism: New Light on the Ancient Tradition of Inner Knowing

Dr. Hoeller introduces the subject of his latest book of the same title. An excellent brief introduction to the Gnostic Tradition. (This lecture introduces not only our 10-lecture album 1001 "The Wisdom of the Gnostics", but all of our recordings on Gnosticism by Stephan A. Hoeller)
Catalog #100100, Running Time 47:25. Listen or Download

The Greatest Treasures of Nag Hammadi

"Thomas and Philip: Gospels of the Gnostic Christ" is a free presentation introducing the new ten part set of lectures on the most popular and valued writings from the Nag Hammadi Library, found in Egypt in 1945.
Catalog #100700. Running Time 79:52. Listen or Download

An Introduction to The Gospel of Judas

Dr. Hoeller regards "The Gospel of Judas" as an important and very Gnostic document, and gives his preliminary evaluation in this brief talk. A full series on the "Gospel of Judas" will be delivered Summer 2006, and will be available when complete.
Running Time 39:11. Listen or Download

Reflections on "The Da Vinci Code"

Owing to the attention "The Da Vinci Code" brings to all subjects Gnostic, Dr. Hoeller's talk provides insights of a Gnostic nature on this subject.
Running Time 36:59. Listen or Download

Our Holy Inheritance

"Simply do this: Be still and lay aside all thoughts of what you are
and what God is; all concepts you have learned about the world; all
images you hold about yourself. Empty your mind of everything it
thinks is either true or false or good or bad; of every thought it
judges worthy and all the ideas of which it is ashamed. Hold onto
nothing. Do not bring with you one thought the past has taught, nor
one belief you ever learned before from anything. Forget this world,
forget with wholly empty hands unto your God."
A Course in Miracles

from blog: ourholyinheritance.blogspot.com

The Voice for God

Dear David ,

It's nice to be writing you. I hope this email finds you well.

This past year, Candace and I conducted 76 workshops around the country teaching people how to hear God's Voice within them.

Because our curriculum was so effective at teaching people how to connect with the Holy Spirit within them, we have created an inspiring flash movie called The Voice for God that includes a FREE 30 day audio series designed to walk people through the same teachings we shared with you in person.

We are writing you because we want to make these teachings as widely available as possible and want to share this inspiring movie with you and your community. We think it's one of the most exciting, free offerings available anywhere for hearing God's Voice within, and there are absolutely no strings attached. People can download all of the audio lessons, or read and print out the transcripts. The curriculum is nearly identical to the one we presented in person this past year. Below is the announcement email we recently sent to our personal mailings list two days ago.

To watch the inspiring 3 minute flash movie now, please click here. We'd love to hear what you think about it. If you have any questions, please let us know.

Many blessings to you.

With love,

DavidPaul Doyle

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks DavidPaul & Candace,

I just returned from my travels to Arhus, Denmark & Goteborg, Sweden, and my freind Alex showed me the movie this morning. Thanks for offering this movie and the free lessons to all the world.

Today Alex and Anna and I meet with Swedish filmaker Kay Pollak, who has been an ACIM student for many years and recently made: "As It IS In Heaven." He shares his book and a course on living happiness with many interested people here in Sweden.

Love & Blessings,

David

__._,_.___

Immortal and Real

Gary Renard's The Disappearance of the Universe was a lovely and intriguing look at A Course in Miracles from the simple perspective of himself guided by two ascended masters Arten and Pursah. Call them what you like, they are continuing to aid him with his new book, Your Immortal Reality: How to Break the Cycle of Birth and Death.
from miracles alliance newsletter

Seminar on Some of the 'Maverick' Gospels

from The Jesus Seminar

Mary, Judas, and Other Maverick Gospels
Charles W. Hedrick

At least thirty-four gospels were composed in the first and second centuries. Some we only know by name. Those that have survived offer different perspectives on Jesus of Nazareth. In the second century, one wing of the many groups tracing their origins to Jesus designated four gospels as authoritative for faith. These Christians styled themselves as "orthodox"—meaning their confession was "right." The other gospels were discredited, and the groups using these "maverick" gospels were described as "heretics"—meaning their confession was "warped," and hence wrong. But were these gospels "warped"? This workshop will focus on the gospels of Mary, Judas and Secret Mark, assessing their significance for understanding Christian origins.

Charles Hedrick is Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Religious Studies at Missouri State University. A member of the UNESCO team of scholars who reconstructed and translated the Nag Hammadi Codices, he is the author of several books, including The Gospel of the Savior (with Paul Mirecki, 1999).

Wednesday, October 18
9–10, 10:30–11:30 am, 1–2, 2:30–3:30 pm

Register Online Register by Mail Travel & Lodgings

FALL 2006 WESTAR MEETING
October 18–21, 2006
Flamingo Hotel, Santa Rosa, California

The Power of Now

The Power of Now
by Eckhart Tolle, © 1999 by Eckhart Tolle, New World Library, 191 pp.

A New Classic

"We live in an explosion of spiritual writing. In addition to tons of recent books on Christian inspiration, there are breakthroughs in scholarship, archaeology, and an ocean of writings on meditation, the New Age, and Eastern religions. In the flood of information, it's only natural to wonder—What do I read? What will help me with something I don't already know? What will be forgotten in five years, and what will endure?

"Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Now is a superb book already being hailed as a classic. . . "
more
from frimmin

perception = 0

Dear David,

I don't know if you answer e-mail anymore but I could think of no one else to address this question to. I have been reading an interpretation of the New Testament and find it very confusing. Parts of it I find truly beautiful and moving but it seems to swing back to saying, over and over, that the world is a wonderful, valid expression of fun and curiosity and go ahead and enjoy it. I keep thinking, how can something that is nothing be wonderful, valid and enjoyable? Am I missing something here? Do you see the truth in what was written? I want to continue to try to understand what is written if it is truly helpful, but it seems to be clashing with some of what I'm reading in ACIM. I trust your discernment more than I trust my own, please tell me what you think. Love

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Beloved One,

Thanks for writing. What you are experiencing is a good opportunity for discernment. A scribe or writer is limited in accuracy based on the depth of experience and consistency in making no exceptions to Truth. Writings, like those you refer to, are best used for one's own discernment. Yes, the world of perception is nothing and cannot be endowed with positive or negative attributes. The experience of Joy comes from releasing all attempts to understand, to fix, or enjoy specifics.
I am reminded of lesson 128, "The world I see holds nothing that I want." Your discernment is in alignment with this lesson, and I rejoice with you in the deepening of your awareness. Keep working directly with ACIM, and use other writngs as more opportunities for discernment. Salvation is no compromise of any kind.
Blessings of Love, David

To read archived messages, go to the online version of AwakeningInChrist Yahoo Group at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AwakeningInChrist

the secret: video

Beloved One,

Greetings of Peace. At 3 locations during my recent travels and gatherings groups of people gathered to watch the movie "The Secret" and said it was very helpful. People watch the movie and begin applying the Divine Principle immediately and with miraculous results! For those who have not seen it I suggest you watch it. You may even be Guided to watch it several times.

My friends Buddy & Phil recently passed along the following link to watch the complete movie by clicking this link:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8958231188734018006&q=THE+SECRET

You can also order a copy from:

http://thesecret.tv

Miracles Abound!!! I talked to my friend Lisa this morning and she and her husband Peter Phippin are opening the house in Manheim, PA for Awakening gatherings and workshops and intensives. Contact Lisa at: nowiamfree111@yahoo.com or call her at: 717-665-7452 (h) , 717-629-1038 (m) if you are interested in holding an event at the house where we all recently gathered and celebrated during the end of May. Lisa and Peter will also be traveling and shining the Light of God where they are Invited & Welcomed. Contact them if you would like to discuss a possible visit. Lisa will be joining Peter in New England at the end of this week and I am sure they would love to visit you if you are along their route of travel.

Showers of Love & Happiness & Joy Always,

David

David on Lack

Dearly Beloved,

The best indicator of connection to God is how one feels, and this indicator is the best because it is not dependent on any particular "form outcome." A mind that looks to "form outcomes" is deceived and will not experience a lasting Peace. State of mind (how one feels) IS the outcome of which thought system one is aligned with (God or ego). Money is nothing, though if a mind believes in ego (belief in lack/reciprocity), money is endowed with false value.

The belief in lack/reciprocity is the belief in substitution, for the ego is the chosen "substitute" for Source, for God. The reason money seems valuable is because it seems to be highly exchangable for many "things" that meet illusory needs, whether they seem emotional,
physical, or spiritual. Like medicine, money is like a magic spell of the world that seems to make illusory problems disappear for awhile. Yet until the ego has been released entirely, the mind perceives needs and external means (false sources) to meet the perceived needs.

It all comes down to this: one must accept One Self as Changeless Divine Mind. The only step to this is realizing that the world cannot change, for it is an unreal effect of an unreal cause. They world CANNOT change. Asking for things to be different than they are is an impossible request.

Money, like all effects (images of the ego) is never a source. The meaningful request is a request to see the world differently (as an unreal effect of an unreal cause) and to thus accept the Fact that there is only One Source. God is the ONLY Source. The only question, problem or confusion is one of identity and has absolutely nothing to do with money. Trust would settle every problem now, for to trust is to be God dependent. The reversal of thought necessary to realize God dependence is a full 360 degree turn around, so to speak,
and this means the realization that there are no cause/effect relationships in this world that are true.

If all the images (including money) are effects, there is no cause or source to be found in this world. God is True Source and Christ the True Effect. Therefore the secret to true prayer is to forget the things you think you think and think you need by withdrawing faith in
the temporal and transitory. What is eternal is valuable, as what is of time is valueless by definition. With regard to this world, Purpose is the only "value" that can be given faith if you would be God dependent.

Giving and receiving are one. One always receives EXACTLY what one asks for. The problem or confusion one may seem to experience in perception comes about from the belief in "manifesting," which IS the belief in "time." Eternity does not manifest, Being One forever.
Manifesting is the belief that the Eternal can take form, that Infinity can become finite, that Spirit can enter matter. Awakening is the experience of forgiving the illusion of "manifesting," for What Identity Is is Spirit. Christ comes not into form, but Calls you "out of the world" to recognize your Self as Eternal Spirit.

Is there a willingness to release the idea of manifesting forever and experience Peace of Mind? This is the same as asking "Are you willing to accept your Self as God created You instead of trying to make yourself?" The belief in manifesting can be released for it is not
true. Spirit can and inevitably must be accepted, for It is true. The belief in linear time is a defense against the Holy Instant, for time is but a denial of Eternity.

Beloved Child of God, You have been released of the grievance of time and there is no delay in what Your thoughts create instantly and forever. The belief in time and manifesting is an unwillingness to accept the Instant Answer Now, and one can only receive what one is
willing to hear and see. When one asks for a sign or for an outcome or for an accountability for money donated, one asks amiss, for one is asking out of lack. When one has voluntarily released the beliefs in manifesting and time, one can then honestly ask: "God, what is
Your Will for me?" Prayer is always answered according to what the
mind is willing to receive. And in the deepest prayer of the heart you shall realize what is meant by the statement "My thoughts create eternally."

There is a difference between create and make, and a difference between extension and projection. Love creates, the ego makes. Love extends, the ego projects. In Love being and having are the same. To the ego, possession and having are the same and in a world of lack
what you get is what you have. How utterly impossible is manifesting/getting and how absolutely true is Creation/Giving. Reciprocity is a question of identity. Trust is the way out of the false belief in a worldly identity. It takes trust to change your mind so completely that you forget the concepts of time and manifesting forever. And happily it requires only willingness and not time.

If you drop the "thought process" entirely you make way for the Vision of Christ. If this be your desire, the world of unreal effects will be shown to be causeless and you will laugh at the thoughts that money or any image could be a real "source" or that the Holy Child of
God "needs" anything. One's real thoughts create eternally, yet no thoughts of the past or future are real thoughts. The Stillness of Now is the Answer.

The Holy Spirit will direct your thoughts and actions very specifically if you allow Him. Give all concepts of money and manifesting and time to Him to use for His Purpose, and they shall be removed from your Holy mind. For You are Wholly Mind, and nothing of the world can ever BE understood. Who You are IS the Meaning.

Love & Blessings,

David


http://awakening-mind.org

Choose Once Again Conference

from the Miracle Distribution Center

Choose Once Again: MDC's International Conference on A Course in Miracles
August 26-27, 2006

Join us for an unforgettable celebration of 30 years of A Course in Miracles with the Course's publisher, Judith Skutch Whitson. First printed in 1976, the Course has now been translated into 14 languages. Also joining us will be Efrat Sar Shalom, a member of the translation team of the Hebrew edition of the Course and Seffi Henegbi, who, along with Efrat, has established a desert retreat in Israel where they teach the Course.

Rounding out the weekend will be physicist Russell Targ, psychologist Lee Jampolsky, speaker Jacob Glass and international lecturer and author Beverly Hutchinson McNeff.

Inspirational lectures, experiential exercises, music and interaction with Course students from around the world will combine into an experience of the miraculous!

For more information, visit www.miraclecenter.org

On Questioning

From a correspondance of the Holy Instant Christian Church--

Last month we showed that one's mind doing nothing allows extension of the miraculous state of being which Jesus tells us heals the sick, raises the dead, and lifts our world to light beyond belief ... a state of being available to all. We indicated that Jesus Christ's revelation for the 21st century, A Course in Miracles, does not teach us to do with our mind, but to UNdo our habits of mind. We experience unbelievable miracles by resting in trust and not engaging our mind whatsoever.

This month we will attempt to disengage one of the ego's greatest doing devices: question asking.

You might remember Yoda trying to teach Luke Skywalker in "Return of the Jedi." Luke needed to learn he already knows everything he needs to know in the now moment. He could not have come to experience his perfect now moment knowingness if he hadn't totally released the ego habit of asking questions. So in the movie we enjoyed scene after scene of Luke lapsing into his addiction of asking while Yoda again and again offers the same Jedi response: "No questions!"

Jesus Christ's Course puts it this way: "That is why the Holy Spirit never questions. His sole function is to undo the questionable and thus lead to certainty. The certain are perfectly calm, because they are not in doubt. They do not raise questions, because nothing questionable enters their minds. This holds them in perfect serenity, because this is what they share, knowing what they are." (ACIM Text Chap. 7)

You already know this, though maybe you still like to pretend you don't.

And therein lies the problem. Remember, the ego constantly tries to convince you that you are not who you really are. You are not really infinite mind who knows everything. You are not even a spiritual being who is automatically aware of everything you need to know to operate perfectly in the now moment. The ego wants you to pretend you have a minuscule little mind which really has no choice but to ask questions to learn things.

(Listen inside. What do you hear? If you hear a defense of asking questions, you may be more stuck than you think.)

From the Holy Spirit's way of seeing things, a so-called "human mind" addicted to asking questions is simply expressing arrogance, ultimately from a secret motive of hatred, since peace would have no reason whatsoever to ask:

"Attempt to solve no problems but within the Holy Instant's surety. For there the problem will be answered and resolved. Outside, there will be no solution, for there is no answer there that could be found. Nowhere outside a single, simple question is ever asked. The world can only ask a double question, with many answers, none of which will do. It does not ask a question to be answered, but only to restate its point of view. All questions asked within this world are but a way of looking, not a question asked. A question asked in hate cannot be answered, because it is an answer in itself. A double question asks and answers, both attesting the same thing, in different form." (ACIM Text Chapter 27)

To an advanced teacher of God it is obvious that question asking does not arise from any need to know. It is simply the insanity of ego raising its voice in the hopes that making enough noise heckling God will serve to mask its own confused state.

In the unedited version of the Course, Jesus tells Helen Schucman: "The ego is the questioning compartment in the post-separation psyche which man created for himself. It is capable of asking valid questions, but not of perceiving wholly valid answers, because these are cognitive, and cannot be perceived. The endless speculation about the meaning of mind has led to considerable confusion because the mind is confused. Only One-Mindedness is without confusion. A separate, or divided, mind MUST be confused. A divided mind is uncertain by definition. It has to be in conflict because it is out of accord with itself." (ACIM Text Chap. 3)

Notice the Course just gave the addict something to grasp onto for justifying the addiction to question asking: Christ's statement that the ego is capable of asking valid questions. But that's not the point of the above passage. Being capable has nothing to do with necessity. There is simply no need to ask questions thought up by the intellect, and in fact doing so is a delaying device of the ego.

In the Bible we read of the scribe who really grasped that his mind needed to quit questioning and focus only on God ... and Jesus indicates he will delay himself not much longer:

"And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after durst ask him any question." (Mark 12:34)

Those addicted to asking questions will also attempt to support their addictions using those portions of the Course which talk about allowing to be open to question that which we've always believed. "Questioning delusions is the first step in undoing them." But the questioning here referred to, impulses rising from deep within which undo rather than seek formulated answers, are a different kind of "questioning" than the addict's obsessive compulsion of the engaged intellect. Notice how in the unedited version Jesus directs Helen to put quotation marks around "questioning mind:"

"The 'questioning mind' perceives itself in time, and therefore looks for future answers. The unquestioning mind is closed merely because it believes the future and the present will be the same. This establishes an unchanged state, or stasis. This is usually an attempt to counteract an underlying fear that the future will be WORSE than the present, and this fear inhibits the tendency to question at all." (ACIM Text Chap. 3)

You might say there is questioning and there is asking questions ... and they are not the same. Asking questions is the ego's attempt to pretend it does not already know what is needed, while questioning is the act of turning within and "hearing" or "feeling" exactly what we really need to know any given moment. Turning within for answers without questions was Luke Skywalker's training and eventual mastery.

So our goal with this month's message is to take control of our mind and let this addiction be cured. We make a commitment to train ourselves as Luke Skywalker was trained by Yoda. We choose to watch our intellect, and when our intellect begins to ask a question which has no reason to be asked we say to it:

"Stop! Trust!
No questions!"

So Glad

"ACIM Conference 2007
"An Opportunity To Gladden Yourself"
February 23, 24, 25 - 2007
Tony Ponticello and Larry Bendini
Deposit: $75 (non-refundable) will reserve your enrollment and price.
Remainder Due: January 15, 2007
Conference will include 4 "all you can eat" buffet meals!
(Fri.dinner, Sat. lunch, Sat. dinner and Sun. brunch)
Check out the conference web site now. It's gorgeous!"
from http://www.miracles-course.org/Miracles5_2007.html

A story it is a good one

Beloved One,

Here is a dialogue I know you will enjoy:

A University professor at a well known institution of higher learning
challenged his students with this question. "Did God create
everything that exists?"

A student bravely replied, "Yes he did!"

"God created everything?" The professor asked.

"Yes sir, he certainly did," the student replied.

The professor answered, "If God created everything; then God created
evil.

And, since evil exists, and according to the principal that our works
define who we are, then we can assume God is evil."

The student became quiet and did not answer the professor's
hypothetical definition. The professor, quite pleased with himself,
boasted to the students that he had proven once more that the
Christian faith was a myth.

Another student raised his hand and said,
"May I ask you a question, professor?"

"Of course", replied the professor.

The student stood up and asked, "Professor, does cold exist?"

"What kind of question is this? Of course it
exists. Have you never been cold?"

The other students snickered at the young man's question.

The young man replied,
"In fact sir, cold does not exist. According
to the laws of physics, what we consider cold is in reality the
absence of heat. Every body or object is susceptible to study when
it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter
have or transmit energy.

"Absolute zero (-460 F) is the total absence of heat; and all matter
becomes inert and incapable of reaction at that temperature. Cold
does not exist. We have created this word to describe how we feel
if we have no heat."

The student continued,
"Professor, does darkness exist?"

The professor responded,
"Of course it does."

The student replied,
"Once again you are wrong sir, darkness does not exist either.
Darkness is in reality the absence of light.
Light we can study, but not darkness. In fact, we can use Newton's
prism to break white light into many colors and study the various
wavelengths of each color.

"You cannot measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break
into a world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you know how
dark a certain space is? You measure the amount of light present.
Isn't this correct? Darkness is a term used by man to describe what
happens when there is no light present."

Finally the young man asked the professor,
"Sir, does evil exist?"

Now uncertain, the professor responded,
"Of course, as I have already said. We see it everyday. It is in the daily examples of
man's inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil.

To this the student replied,
"Evil does not exist, sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat, or the darkness that comes when there is no light."

The professor sat down.

The young man's name - Albert Einstein

email from David

Some basic Questions Answered

David,

I have been formulating some questions and wondering if you could
shed some light on them. I was first questioning my concept of
God. For many years I have understood God as a being of sorts, or
perhaps a conscious all knowingness, that knew me, thought about me,
and everyone else in this universe and beyond. I also saw God as the
creator in this world which is constantly being formed. Now I don''t
know about any of it. What is God. Just beingness? I am??? What
exactly is that. If God is just being, or existence, then why bother
saying a prayer? Who hears it other than me? What good can it
possibly do? Thanks in advance.

Sincerly

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Beloved One,

Thanks for writing. You are a blessing. It is always wonderful to
hear from you. You are what you have been searching for. Identity
in God is "closer" than a breath.

God is the Eternal Love Which remains forever and forever and is
Known when all concepts of time-space have dissolved away. Emptying
the mind, as in Zen practice, is making clean the Altar to Divine
Mind. God creates Spirit, and matter is simply the "matter" or
focus of forgiveness/release of illusions that cloud the mind.
Prayer is the desire of the heart, and true prayer is the single
desire or desirelessness that transcends the multiple desires for
things and perceptual experiences that the ego (error) craves. The
truth is simple because it is one. One prays continuously and that
is why it is important to be watchful of what you ask for or desire.

God Knows the prayer of the heart. Beyond the words and questions
and symbols is an experience of certainty in which there is no
doubt. It is impossible to truly be anything but this certainty.
Question and Answer, asker and the one who is asked but seem to be
different in dreams. Yet there is a Point, a State of Mind, in
which everything is experienced as One.

Concepts were made to deny the Eternal. In forgiveness of what never
was is a final concept accepted to take the place of the "many."
Unlearn every concept of time and all conflict and doubt is undone.

The I Am presence is Pure Spirit. Only this Self can BE Known. All
"else" fades and grows dim and disappears, for time could never come
and take the place of Eternity.

I am with you all the way in simplicity. I am always happy to talk
with you and can give you a call if you think it would be helpful.

May your unlearning be Joyful and our Mind remain in Peace forever.
We walk the Selfsame road, and the way is easy. The way inward is
natural. You are my very Self in Love, and I rejoice in our
Innocence. Nothing else ever was true. Keep shining our Light. It
is soooooooooo bright, as You are. You are the One!

In gratitude and love,

David

Teach Only Love Merging with Awakening-Mind

Beloved One,

In the coming months there will be a merging of the Teach Only Love Sanctuary, which is located in Great Falls, MT, into a branch of The Foundation for the Awakening Mind, which is located in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Teach Only Love Sanctuary will continue to serve as a Miracles center for the study of A Course In Miracles under the symbol of Awakening-Mind.org

The Foundation for the Awakening Mind is a 501 (c) (3) non profit organization and donations to the Sanctuary will be tax deductible when everything is finalized. We will use the Awakening-Mind.org symbol to express the teachings of the Holy Spirit, Who teaches us His unified purpose through consistency, and true consistency in His purpose is JOY!

Love,

David, Kirsten, Jeffrey, & Kerri

Consciousness

Consciousness is the receptive mechanism, receiving messages from
above or below; from the Holy Spirit or the ego. Consciousness has
levels and awareness can shift quite dramatically, but it cannot
transcend the perceptual realm. At its highest it becomes aware of
the real world, and can be trained to do so increasingly. Yet the
very fact that it has levels and can be trained demonstrates that it
cannot reach knowledge.""Revelation unites you directly with God. Miracles unite you
directly with your brother. Neither emanates from consciousness, but
both are experienced there. Consciousness is the state that induces
action, though it does not inspire it."
"Consciousness, the level of perception, was the first split
introduced into the mind after the separation, making the mind a
perceiver rather than a creator. Consciousness is correctly
identified as the domain of the ego. The ego is a wrong-minded
attempt to perceive yourself as you wish to be, rather than as you
are. Yet you can know yourself only as you are, because that is all
you can be sure of. Everything else is open to question."
"The means of the Atonement is forgiveness.
The structure of "individual consciousness" is essentially
irrelevant because it is a concept representing the "original error"
or the "original sin." To study the error itself does not lead to correction,
if you are indeed to succeed in overlooking the error. And it is just this
process of overlooking at which the course aims."
"Very quietly now, with your eyes closed, try to let go of all the
content that generally occupies your consciousness. Think of your
mind as a vast circle, surrounded by a layer of heavy, dark clouds.
You can see only the clouds because you seem to be standing outside
the circle and quite apart from it. From where you stand, you can
see no reason to believe there is a brilliant light hidden by the
clouds. The clouds seem to be the only reality. They seem to be all
there is to see. Therefore, you do not attempt to go through the
mind past them, which is the only way in which you would be really
convinced of their lack of substance."
Consciousness is synonymous with split mind. It receives messages
from "above" or "below," the Holy Spirit or the ego. It is the focus
of the mind training lessons in the ACIM Workbook and can be trained
to reach the forgiven world that Jesus calls the "real world." This
is the dreamer of the dream Perspective that I speak of frequently
which is a state of consistent peace and nonjudgment. Revelation and
miracles emanate from the Light beyond consciousness. God and
Christ, Being Pure Eternal Abstract Light and Oneness, have nothing
to do with consciousness (which is 'split' into illusory levels).
In this sense there is no "God Consciousness" for Oneness and split mind
are not reconcilable. God and Christ are True and consciousness is
make-believe or false. God and Christ are Spirit and consciousness
is the belief that there is "something else" in "addition to" Spirit.
Awakening could be described as the "release" of the make-believe
"something else."
Creation is the Light beyond consciousness. Consciousness, being the
domain of the ego, does not have creative ability. God creates the
Eternal and the ego or error "makes" the finite, temporal, illusion
of time-space. It is consciousness which seems to unlearn the ego
(or split) and thus learn of forgiveness (perceived wholeness), yet
the quotation above saying "it cannot reach knowledge" reflects the
realization that consciousness is an illusion which must disappear
before remembering the Knowledge of Heaven or Pure Oneness.
You wrote: "I use the term 'consciousness' to mean that which creates
and animates the illusory form; that which is an Aspect of God and
never leaves His Mind -- a part of the Mind of God. My understanding
is that this Consciousness, being an Aspect of God, is eternal and
plays and plays and plays, extending Love first in one direction,
then in another, including making up and pretending to experience an
illusion of separation complete with amnesia about Reality." Christ
never leaves the Mind of God, yet consciousness is the belief that
Christ has left the Mind of God. Creation extends Eternally and as
ACIM states: "God knows not form." Christ is an Eternal Idea in the
Mind of God. It is the ego domain of consciousness which seems to
be "...making up and pretending to experience an illusion of
separation complete with amnesia about Reality." God does not
forgive for God has never condemned, yet forgiveness (release -
letting go) applies to consciousness and thus to releasing the
obstacles (what was ego-made) so that the mind can remember God,
Christ, and Eternal Creation.One of the key metaphysical ideas for
understanding the importance and necessity of forgiveness of illusion and the release and
detachment from the judgment of the world is stated in ACIM as
follows: "The world was made as an attack on God. It symbolizes
fear. And what is fear except love's absence? Thus the world was
meant to be a place where God could enter not, and where His Son
could be apart from Him. Here was perception born, for knowledge
could not cause such insane thoughts." God Is. Christ is Awake in
the Mind of God. The mind which sleeps and dreams of images appears
to play with idols, toys of its own "making," yet the Holy Spirit
uses what was made to go far beyond what was made. The Holy Spirit
Made a waking Dream cleansed of judgment. The Holy Spirit knows the
distinction between the real and the unreal, and the judgment of the
false AS false is the only meaningful judgment to be made. This
Atonement is the gateway to freedom beyond all dreaming - to
remembrance of Self as Christ in the Mind of God. God and Christ are
Abstract Eternal Love, and the seeming world of parts and specifics
is the veil which HAS BEEN forgiven.
The Kingdom of Heaven is within. I will use the metaphor mentioned
in the ACIM Workbook. If Divine Mind were a vast Circle of Light and
if this Circle was seemingly surrounded by dark clouds of false
belief and perception, consciousness would be the illusory experience
of being "outside" of the Circle. In sinking beneath the clouds of
illusion, the experience is One of Pure Light. In Truth Light cannot
be surrounded or circumscribed, for Light is literally the Allness of
God and Christ Which Know Perfect Oneness. I rejoice in the
forgiveness of illusion, for a Child of God cannot be limited in
awareness except by illusory belief. And happily this need not be.
I love You forever and ever!
David

Berkeley Event with Master Teacher

A Course In Miracles
Spiritual Transformation
An Invitation To A Great Experiment
Lawrence Hall of Science,
University of California, Berkeley
Saturday, April 8 through Sunday April 9, 2006

Come and experience with Master Teacher,
an inevitable decision of discoveringour journey without distance
in the space of an instant of reality.
See if the religion of your nature andthe philosophy of your being
can be integrated, through the science of your mind,
into the brilliantly fearless new reality that is your evolutionary destiny.
Once again, "Remember that it is impossible that anything that is happening to you is but by accident." You may very simply say, this is the time I choose to awaken,
and it will be true and it will always have been true.
All around you are the teachers you have chosen to assist and accelerate the necessary confrontation of your own objective self-identity in the whole eternal perfectly creating universal mind that surrounds you, so that you may undergo your inevitable experience of resurrection and enlightenment.
What you have been afraid of, and denying through your own possessive fear, is your own illumination. You are returning to God Mind through the memory of your transformation from a temporal being to the reality of eternal life. So right here, right now, is the time for your passage from death to life.
This is a teaching of initiation, or the determination of an individual mind to come to its own whole universal self. It is the transitional passage from time to eternity. From this apparent nightmare of separation to the remembrance that you are perfect as God created you. It is accomplished through a bright reassociation of your individual perceptual self-identity.
This is your awakening and every obstacle that peace must flow across is surmounted in exactly the same way. The fear that raised it yields to the love beyond, so the fear is gone.
A Course In Miracles Spiritual Transformation Program
with Master Teacher

Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California, Berkeley
1 Centennial Drive, Berkeley, CA 94720

Saturday, April 8, 2006 - 9:00 AM through 5:00 PM
and Sunday April 9, 2006 - 9:00 AM through 2:00 PM
For more information, call: 608-253-1447
or visit: www.acimi.com

Tromas Troward's Edinburgh Lectures On Mental Science

Click here.

do nothing!

"Be At Peace and Do Nothing!"
"There is nothing you need do ... but wait ... and see what happens!"
How many times have you heard your inner voice telling you to quit doing, quit planning, quit trying to make things happen, quit studying A Course in Miracles and simply let the Course work on you?
There is nothing to do but wait and see what happens. This is actually the fundamental message of Jesus Christ. You are already all the love, joy, and creative power of the universe. You need only do nothing to let God's love, joy, and creative power extend and lighten your world.
"When peace comes at last to those who wrestle with temptation and fight against giving in to sin; when the light comes at last into the mind given to contemplation; or when the goal is finally achieved by anyone, it ALWAYS comes with just ONE happy realization, – 'I need do nothing.' Here is the ultimate release that everyone will one day find in his own way, at his own time. You do not need this time. Time has been SAVED for you." (ACIM Text Chap. 18)
You need do nothing with your mind to experience total enlightenment and total extension of light because ... engaging your mind is your way of compressing the light. Forming your unformed infinite mind into finite thoughts is your method of making yourself little and making a little dark world.
"Oh, but I'll use the infinite energy of my mind to form positive thoughts so I can have prosperity and well-being."
Sure you can do this ... but for every thought you form to create prosperity and well-being, you have inserted an ego self-identification which blocks the infinitely more grand plan God has for your prosperity and well-being, while simultaneously strengthening your downfall. You are simply trying to do it yourself, not trusting that the Holy Spirit, left to His own devices, has a fail-proof plan for your prosperity and well-being which you could not have imagined.
In other words, you trying to think positive thoughts can meet with only temporary limited success only in your judgment, which is not the judgment you really want to be relying on.
"In no situation which arises do you realize the outcome that would make you happy. Therefore you have no guide to appropriate action, and no way of judging the results. What you do is determined by your perception of the situation, and that perception is wrong. It is inevitable, then, that you will not serve your own best interests. Yet they are your only goal in any situation which is correctly perceived. Otherwise, you will not recognize what they are." (ACIM Lesson 24)
"But if I listen inside to the Holy Spirit's voice, to thoughts 'out of the blue' which I didn't make up, I'm often guided to take some action. So the Holy Spirit definitely guides doing."
Yes and no. Yes in the ego's eyes, no in the Holy Spirit's vision. Thoughts "out of the blue" are thoughts you did not initiate in your mind, so you did nothing with your mind. You simply experienced an instant at peace in non-doing, and while at peace in non-doing ... you heard guidance. Now if you follow the Holy Spirit's guidance, although it might seem like you are doing something, you are actually being undone. The Holy Spirit's guidance serves one purpose only, to undo you and the world you've made up. What you interpret as receiving guidance and doing something, the Holy Spirit is happy to see as you following guidance and allowing undoing.
"You perceive the world and everything in it as meaningful in terms of ego goals. These goals have nothing to do with your own best interests, because the ego is not you. This false identification makes you incapable of understanding what anything is for." (ACIM Lesson 25)
"But I've heard that the development of clear spiritual hearing, for example, takes a great amount of practice. What if I practice, and practice, and practice inner hearing so my inner hearing can come to be ever present and easily heard? Isn't all that practice a form of doing?"
Again, not in the Holy Spirit's way of seeing things. Because the very practice of inner hearing is the practice of doing nothing with one's mind, allowing one's thought and picture forming faculties to be altogether disengaged, so what is heard is from what we call "divine intelligence," or the "Voice for God."
"Nonetheless, the Course is a course in mind training. I've heard it said that an untrained mind accomplishes nothing."
Yes, and the "training" referred to is not you training yourself but the Holy Spirit's work, training you to do nothing with your mind. Because everything you've ever done with your untrained mind literally has meant nothing.
In short, there simply is nothing to do. It's as simple as that. Jesus Christ tells us our salvation and our world's salvation is a done deal. But since your ego is deadly afraid that it cannot exist unless it is doing, the desire to do is very, very powerful and deeply ingrained. Your only hope is to pray with all your heart and soul, and all your being, for trust. Then the more you open to trust, the more you are able to let go of all doing and let God.
"'I need do nothing' is a statement of allegiance, a truly undivided loyalty. Believe it for just one instant, and you will accomplish more than is given to a century of contemplation, or of struggle against temptation. (ACIM Text Chap. 18)
So do not ask: what would Jesus do? Rather ask what Jesus asks of you? And the answer from Jesus is: "Victory is already assured! Please remember to do nothing."
"Now you need but remember YOU NEED DO NOTHING. It would be FAR more profitable now merely to concentrate on this, than to consider what you SHOULD do." (ACIM Text Chap. 18)
Would a little humorous memory device serve a purpose?
There is an apocryphal story in which a disciple asks Jesus:
"What is holding me back? It seems I'm stuck?" Jesus answered:
"You're full of yourself, with everything YOU do. A good release is needed, of your own ... do do!"
from: Monthly Article of the Holy Instant Christian Church
http://www.geocities.com/holy_instant/Apr2006.html

Questions for David

Hello David!

I have a few questions for you that are on my mind...

1) ACIM says as a Miracle Principle that "Miracles should not be
used as spectacles to induce belief"... If this is true, then how
would you define Jesus' miracles such as feeding the multitudes,
raising the dead, etc?

2) Wayne Dyer really speaks to my soul! I see him and ACIM in
perfect alignment with their teachings. Do you see the same
consistency in teachings between ACIM and Ernest Holmes? And ACIM
and The Unity Church?

Thank you as always for your wonderful help in poking holes
(miracles) in my clouds that are blocking the Sun. I also would
like to share with you a verse I came up with:

DON'T SEE THE SUN SHINING, BE THE SUN SHINING!

In Love

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Beloved One,

Thanks for sharing your questions. Miracles are always only for the
mind of the perceiver or dreamer (mind is one) and what seems to
occur in form is merely symbolic. Miracles are for the mind that
has the ears to hear, so to speak, or the willingness and readiness
to behold. Seeming changes in form reflect the shift in mind of the
miracle-minded, and though some of these changes seem to
transcend "known physical laws," in Reality there are no "known
physical laws." The Law of Love (Spirit) is the only Reality.
Feeding the multitudes and raising the dead were symbols of the
Divine Law of Love Which has no limit or lack. It is truly the
beattitudes or state of mind that demonstrates the miracle has
come. It is this state of mind in which consistency is possible and
this is a characteristic of Awakening. "Consistent form" is a
contradiction in terms, although behavior can seem to become
more "stable" for the miracle-minded. The easy way to remember that
miracles are not intended to be used as spectacles to induce belief
is to remember that miracles are the means of Awakening for a mind
that already "believes" yet is also willing to go beyond belief
and "Be Still and Know That I Am."

The teachings you mention are all very helpful stepping stones in
Awakening to Oneness. The Holy Spirit will Guide you to discern the
true from the false in all regards, and the deeper you seem to go
you will seem to transcend all linear concepts and come to an
experience that will end all doubting. The teachings you mention
have Oneness as their main focus, yet there are subtleties of ego
concepts that are transcended completely in Enlightenment. Your
inner work with the Holy Spirit will instruct you on your inward
movement and Help you lay aside every linear (past-future) concept
(such as balance and process and growth and personality). You are
moving steadily inward to the experience of Atonement, Christ, and
God's Love.

Thanks for your devotion to Truth